After a bit of a hiccup I'm back on changing the tyres/alloys of our mini cooper S 2005MY.

From a lot of reading I've learnt that just by moving to non run flats the ride improvement could go from a 3/10 to 7/10 which sounds like a great move for us.

Just before I take the plunge I'm wondering if anyone could quantify the improvement in ride if I moved to 16" non run flats? Is it like another 1/10 or more?

I know this isn't a precise science but I'm just trying to get a feel for the right move.

One of the issues is that my wife finds the steering a little heavy so I'm wondering if moving to 16"s will lighten the steering or is that me just hoping for too much.

In my opinion the ride will go up at least 1/10 and the steering will be a little lighter.
I had a Mini on 15" wheels/tyres and switched to 17" runflats.......the ride with 17's was much harder/harsher and the steering much heavier with some tramlining. I then switched to 17" normal tyres, no tramlining, smoother ride, better grip but not as smooth or as light steering as the 15's but an acceptable compromise for me.

Thx for your thoughts, I was hoping that might be the case :)

The decision now is whether we should buy some white 16" R90 style refurbed alloys with new falken 452 195 55 16 for around £680 or whether we should buy some part worn higher brand 17"s for just over £200.

I've really found it hard to work out the right answer as you can't test combination is right without spending a load of money and risk getting it wrong :confused:

The thing that annoys me is how hard and crashy the ride is, kids in the back always complain of how uncomfortable it is but then you can't help but love the little car :biggrin:

I'm also a little Unsure on the falkens.